Champions League's most epic comebacks: Sporting join Barcelona, Liverpool among biggest revivals

Lisbon — Sporting CP have forced their way into Champions League folklore by completing one of the competition’s most improbable escapes, overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit to eliminate Bodo/Glimt 5-3 on aggregate and book a place in the quarterfinals.

The Norwegian champions, who had already accounted for Manchester City, Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan en-route to the knockout stage, arrived at the José Alvalade Stadium on Tuesday holding a commanding advantage earned in the Arctic three weeks ago. Ninety minutes later the tie had been flipped on its head: Sporting scored three times in regulation to force extra time, then added twice more in the additional 30 minutes to win 5-0 on the night and spark delirious scenes in the Portuguese capital.

Gonçalo Inácio’s header on 34 minutes settled early nerves before second-half strikes from Pedro Gonçalves and a Luis Suárez penalty dragged the hosts level on aggregate. Maximiliano Araújo’s angled drive two minutes into extra time nudged Sporting ahead for the first time in the tie, and Rafael Nel’s close-range finish in the 122nd minute sealed a comeback that sees the Lions become only the fifth side in Champions League history to advance after losing the first leg by three goals or more.

Their achievement now sits alongside the feats of Barcelona, Liverpool, Deportivo La Coruña and Roma in the annals of the competition’s greatest resurrections.

Barcelona’s 2016-17 turnaround against Paris Saint-Germain remains the benchmark: a 4-0 loss at the Parc des Princes left Luis Enrique’s side requiring a miracle at Camp Nou. They responded with a 6-1 victory, Neymar’s late double and Sergi Roberto’s 96th-minute strike completing a 6-5 aggregate success that has since been immortalised by Barça fans as “La Remontada”.

Liverpool’s 2018-19 semifinal recovery versus the same opponent ran it close. After a 3-0 defeat at Camp Nou, Jürgen Klopp’s team produced a four-goal blitz at Anfield, Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum sharing the goals that carried the Reds to the final and, ultimately, the trophy.

Deportivo’s 2003-04 quarterfinal reversal against holders Milan is the earliest modern example. A 4-1 loss at San Siro left the Galicians on life support, yet a whirlwind opening half at the Riazor yielded four unanswered goals and a 5-4 aggregate triumph that sent the reigning champions packing.

Roma’s 2017-18 quarterfinal answer to Barça’s heroics came a year after “La Remontada”. Edin Dzeko’s early strike at the Stadio Olimpico set the tone, Daniele De Rossi’s penalty and Kostas Manolas’s 82nd-minute header completed a 3-0 second-leg win that levelled the aggregate at 4-4 and sent the Giallorossi through via away goals—the “Romantada”.

Sporting’s version may lack the global profile of those predecessors, yet the drama inside the Alvalade on Tuesday was every bit as visceral. From 3-0 down to 5-3 up, the Portuguese side have ensured their names will now be uttered in the same breath as Europe’s comeback kings.

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